We collapse to the ground and roll over on our sides. I pull her sweaty lush body into my arms. She falls asleep at once.
I watch her flushed cheeks, swollen lips and wet tendrils of her hair. Mine.
I allow myself to close my eyes, drawing her even closer to me. She mumbles something in her dream. I drop off to sleep.
We wake up in what feels like a few hours. We have a bath in a stream framed by bushy vegetation—Evelyn squeals and trembles while I sweep my hand and splash her with the icy cold water. We kiss like teens. We fuck three times. We fall asleep again.
The silent coldness of dawn wakes us.
I open my eyes and see Ashton and Rick in their wolf forms. They’re circling us, growling and wagging their tails.
“Tell them to go away,” Evelyn mumbles.
“They just want to show us how happy for us they are.”
“I know, but I want to fuck again and I don’t want any audience.”
I graze along her jaw line and push my cock into her pussy from behind, balls-deep, forcing a whimper from her mouth. “We’re a pack. We’re very social beasts.” Her walls clench around me, bringing me to the brink.
“I know.” She turns her face to mine and we kiss. Her body shivers against mine. “And actually, I don’t mind.”
I turn her over on her stomach and fuck her fast and hard. The wolves howl and take human forms. They crouch, watching my wife and me. They’re having fun too, with their own hands. I pull out and cum in my wife’s mouth. Right. I’m a young, energetic wolf. I need to fuck all the fucking time. My pack brothers howl and then my howl of satisfaction muffles theirs.
I’m still so fucking hard and impatient I go down on my wife. Her juices taste divine and her smell makes me feel insane. I slap her clit with my tongue. Her sweet moans fill the air, mingling with my brothers’ growls. I penetrate her pussy with my tongue. I want her to scream with pleasure. I shove her on all fours and push my cock up in her ass. She whimpers and trembles. I pinch her clit and she comes for me.
Evelyn
We’re seated at the table under a red umbrella as the waitress delivers our beverages.
“So,” I start. “I have a lot of questions.”
Coyote flashes me a grin as his hand reaches out for mine. “I’m happy to answer them all.”
My muscles still ache. My pussy and ass still burn. I’ve been his wife for three days and I barely move.
I take a deep breath. “I can block most of the knowledge from the greyness when I’m myself.” Yes, it’s another of Ravna’s gifts for me. When I’m Balance, I’m only Balance. When I’m Evelyn, I’m only Evelyn. My two lives can never mix.
“That’s not what I wanted for you,” Coyote says with an inkling of bitterness.
“Oh, come on. We’re together. In good. In shit. In our job. It’s too much for one person. You need someone like me to support you.”
“That’s not what I wanted for you, but I was selfish enough to accept Ravna’s gift.”
“It’s good to be selfish sometimes.” I swallow thickly. “Everyone has the right to be selfish. That’s not a crime.” Our fingertips move in a sensual dance. “You’re much older, huh? Like one hundred or more.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Your family did something amazing.”
“The world should change. Evolve. So, we changed it.”
“You gave freedom and choice to primal forces like Ravna. Like our lovely winged friends.” Yes, the guys from the Salvation Ghosts are very archangelic. Were very archangelic in the Past. Now they’re retired and very human. Most of the time. Ravna? Well, she made her choice. Evelyn feels sad and touched while thinking of her. My other self is neutral.
Coyote brings my hand up to his hot lips.“They’ve been in service since forever. They deserve happiness.” He plants a kiss on my knuckles.
“Youngsters like us can take over the business.”
“Youngsters like us should breed. I need inside you.”
“I bet you do.” I feel my pussy pulse.
We exchange glances and I rush over to the bathroom as Coyote follows me. We tumble inside it and he kicks the door shut. My skirt with a wide hem appears to be very useful.
Coyote pulls my panties aside and drives his hard cock into me from behind. I almost come, watching my bright yellow eyes in the mirror.
“Say you’re my bitch, Evelyn.” He bites my earlobe lightly as his scorching breath sends tingles down my spine.
God, I love his possessiveness. “I’m your bitch. I’m so wet for you.”
“Your cunt smells divine.”
“My cunt is only for you.”
He fucks me slowly, his face sharp with feral hunger, eyes bright yellow with green flecks. “Only mine.”
“Only yours.” I clutch the edge of the washbasin as pleasure builds inside me.
I feel Coyote’s fingers pinch my clit and jolt me. A low scream leaves my mouth.
“You’re gonna come on my cock, Evelyn.”
I nod, my mind hazy from desire. Coyote massages my clit and I start rising. Bliss surges through me—hot, silver forgetfulness. Coyote picks up the pace and comes with a moan.
“Love you so damn very much, Evelyn.”
What else would I want in life?
Two years later.
I sit on the barstool as Reagan pours me a glass of apple juice. The kids laugh and Ravna claps her hands. Pain pricks my heart. I know this is Ravna’s way of saying her goodbyes. We may still see her from time to time for a while, but then we’ll never see her again.
Balance has no time and no space. It just is. Ravna was every second. Now, I’m turning into every second, replacing her. I understand this concept as Balance, but as Evelyn, I can’t grasp it.
I look over my shoulder and flash Ravna a warm smile. I know. Coyote knows. Ravna knows. The guys from the Salvation Ghosts and the Shadow Immortals know. All the others are oblivious. Should be.
There’re rules when you’re the queen of earth. I can’t tell if I love this job. I do what has to be done. I balance. Coyote balances. He hates his job and the pile of my duties rises with each day that passes. My husband is a simple wolf. He wants a simple life. I’m gonna take over all his duties when I learn everything. Who would think? I was a human until I became Balance. I was mortal until I became eternal.
I stroke Aurora’s head as she flashes me a smile. She’s such a cute entity even though she’s touched by the brutality and darkness of the shadows. My glance travels to Reagan, my other daughter. Yes, Ravna stepped down, and her connections became mine, but I’m of human origins so I love my two adoptive daughters as a human mother would. Ravna claimed she knew no love, but I can see the acts of her love from the moment we met. She is… was a very complicated being.
Aurora and Reagan should go to college at last. I will make this happen.
Ravna winks at me.
The baby boy in my belly moves. Coyote stands behind me and lays his hand on my shoulder. He plants a kiss on my cheek and massages my swollen stomach with his other hand. His quiet guttural growl fills my ear. He is so happy.
“Mrs Wolf? Mr Wolf?” Gabriel smirks at me.
“Mr Archangel?” I say.
“Good to have you in one team,” Uri says.
Yes, Coyote and I decided to stay with the Salvation Ghosts MC. The clubhouse is big enough to accommodate us all. I love the idea of living with all of them like we’re one big family.
I’m still working as a detective, but now only part-time. I’m going to take maternity leave when the baby is born. I can’t take maternity leave from my job as Balance, so Coyote will have to work more for a while.
We’re deliriously happy together.
I go to the bathroom. As I walk out, Gabriel gestures for me to join him behind the staircase.
“What?” I growl. He’s annoying with his never-ending questions about Reagan. “She should go to college and you should stop being obsessive. Stop bothering me with y
our questions.”
Gabriel grins. “You’re my mother-in-law now, so I have the right to receive your support.”
Funny. I sometimes feel like the boys’ mother. “You have human needs, Gabe, and Reagan is a forest spirit. Always will be.” I stroke his arm up and down. “She would kill and die for you, believe me, just let her be how she is.”
“The kids keep her occupied.”
“Yes, she’s loves being a mother, but she’d also love to be in the forest from time to time.”
“No.”
“Gabriel, listen to me. She will always choose you and the kids. Always. Take her out on a date to the forest. You need this too. You both thrive in the forest.”
His jaw muscles twitch and he nods. “Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
“Anytime.”
A smile curls my lips. Gabriel and Reagan will move into the forest when their kids are grown. They’ll be looking after the animals and plants residing there. They’ll be fighting to preserve the forest as two ecologists.
They’ll make first contact possible.
Humans should remain oblivious, but not forever.
Epilogue 1
Evelyn
The forensic people are finished and they start dispersing in all directions. Tony and I walk over to the corner of the room, the smudge of blood on the wall behind us like a red flare.
“Like some fucking animal,” Tony says. “The body has been shredded.”
I know this is a demon’s job, but I can’t tell Tony. Humans must remain oblivious.
Coyote moves closer to us.
“Detective Coyote?” Tony says. “Any ideas? You have a younger, more flexible mind so surprise me.”
“Looks like a job of some sect,” Coyote says.
“How do you know this?” Tony continues, his expression serious, but his voice tinged with amusement.
He takes his job as Coyote’s mentor very seriously. Not to mention his genuine sympathy for my husband. Tony feels like Coyote’s father and it’s sometimes very funny.
“There’re rune symbols on the walls each time,” Coyote says.
Tony nods. “And?”
“Bowls filled with blood,” Coyote says. “The cuts on the body have always the same pattern.”
“A shot of vodka?” I ask. I sense Raphael outside the building. We should leave so he can do his job.
Tony chuckles. “Sandra would kill me. She’s very grumpy now, you know, but with two babies in her belly it must be very exhausting.”
I raise my hands in a warding gesture. “She would kill me for sure. No vodka then but we’ll all have a crazy night out when the babies are born, right?”
Tony and Sandra are expecting twins. Four years ago, Sandra gave birth to a baby girl and a year later, to a baby boy. They’re very tired, but deliriously happy.
Coyote examines the room once again, sniffing at every corner, as Tony leans towards me.
“You look good, sis,” Tony says.
“That’s my new moisturiser.”
“Must be very expensive.” He pats my shoulder. “Does your husband use the same moisturiser? He still looks twenty. He hasn’t changed for all these years at all. And you just look younger and younger.” A wide grin crosses his face.
Pain squeezes my heart.
I know what the price for immortality is when you were born as a human. You watch your relatives and friends age and then pass away.
“We’re organising a party,” I say. “Bring your kids and wife to our place on Saturday.”
Our tradition—family gatherings six times a year, a trip to the zoo twice a year, a phone call once a week. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries—every second is important.
Tony nods. “I’m gonna bring my homemade beer as well.”
“Love you, Tony.”
“Love you too.”
He glances at me with narrow eyes and they gleam as though he knows. Then he blinks a few times and shoves me towards the exit.
“It’s late,” he says. “Let’s go.”
Epilogue 2
Michael
I walk out of the clubhouse, driven by my primal instincts, as my eyes travel to the tiny thing lying at the bottom of the stairs. I move closer and see a baby wrapped in a piece of grey shimmery fabric. Something jabs my heart.
“There must always be a balance, Ravna, am I right?”
A gust of wind blows in my face in response. I lift the baby off the ground and pull her to my chest. I hear her delicate rapid heartbeat. She’s so fragile. So vulnerable.
I walk inside the clubhouse and stride over to Aurora. She looks at the baby and tears well in her eyes.
“She was my mother,” Aurora says as she takes the baby from me.
“Now, she’s your daughter,” I say.
“What should I call her?”
“Ravna?”
“She loved this name… I mean will love it.” Aurora rocks the baby in the crook of her arm as a warm smile plays on her lips. Warm words leave her mouth—loving words, soothing words: ‘everything’s fine’ ‘we love you’ ‘don’t be scared’.
It’s hard to believe that a creature created from the shadows can love so much. Aurora loves everyone—her husband, her kids, her sister and her family, the club. The bunch of gargoyles. Humans. I know she’ll do perfect as Ravna’s mother.
Right. It’s time for me to move out of the clubhouse. It’s been getting cramped recently.
Raphael and I have decided that we should move into the gardener’s house that’s been empty since the nymphs left for good. The clubhouse should be for families only.
Soon, I’ll be the only single man in the club. Raphael and Ides have some shit to work out, but it’s gonna be fine.
“I will love her like she’s my blood daughter,” Aurora says.
“I know. Your heart is good. Endless.”
“I have no heart.”
“You have, Aurora. You’re all kindness and love.”
She looks at me with joyful eyes and kisses Ravna’s head. “Let’s feed you, you little bird.”
Eighteen years later.
I stride over to the bar and grab her shoulder. She turns to me, almost falling off the red barstool.
“Ravna,” I yell as I see her drunken smile.
All eyes turn to me as silence layers the bar for a moment.
“Uncle Michael,” Ravna gasps, her grey eyes wide and glassy.
I lean towards her. “Your father wants to ground you for a year.”
“I’m an adult,” she hisses. “He can’t ground me.” She stands in front of me as her legs wobble. She clenches her hands in front of her stomach and groans. “I feel sick.”
“I bet you do.”
She covers her mouth with her hand and retches. I hook her under her arms from behind and move her out of the bar. She throws up as soon as our feet touch the asphalt that layers the parking lot.
I’ve seen her drunk a few times. She always throws up. She always dies of a hangover the following day. She never learns. Youth, I guess.
Aurora begs her. Cael yells at her.
I’ve been trying to help since I returned home. I’d been on the road for ten years.
Ravna’s body shakes as she throws up again. And again. I’m holding her so she doesn’t break her nose.
“I’m so sorry, Uncle Michael.”
I chuckle. She’s squeaking like a five-year-old child.
Her body shakes again and she retches, but it seems like her stomach is empty.
“I’m dying,” she shrieks.
“No, you are not.”
“I just wanted to celebrate my eighteenth birthday with my friends.”
“We had a beautiful party three days ago.”
“There were no boys, you know.” Anger coats her voice. “Only the family. I want to be among boys my age. I want…” Her voice falters.
Rage fills my veins and I see red. “If I ever see you with a boy, I’ll smack your ass. You hear me? And the boy
is dead, I swear.”
She cringes into herself at the tone of my voice. “I didn’t do anything wrong, I swear. I never even kiss them, I swear. Don’t kill anyone. I will behave, I promise.”
Good. That’s what I wanted to hear from her.
I’d smashed two men before I snatched her. They were staring at her with hungry eyes, and I couldn’t stand it. She’s too young. Too innocent.
Too mine.
I move her aside so that she won’t step into her vomit, and I turn her round. She looks more sober. As frightened as a rodent facing a predator. Embarrassed as hell. Tears roll down from her eyes.
“I’m not angry with you, Ravna.”
I’m pissed off with her grey dress that barely covers her ass and exposes too much of her beautiful cleavage.
She’s almost as tall as me. The majority of human men are shorter than she is. I know her height makes her feel miserable even though she looks like a model with her long curly hair. It has a silvery tinge, almost icy blue when she’s bathed in the sunlight. Four pink streaks add fierceness to her unique appearance.
Ravna drops her head. “Can you take me home?”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
I grab her hand and sit her on my bike. The sight of her never-ending slim legs sends heat to my dick.
She was Balance in her previous life many years ago, but she can’t remember a thing. We’ve never enlightened her on her true origins. Why would we? Now, she’s just a normal kid and we want her to be happy. The heaviness of her true origins could break her and strip her of sanity.
I settle myself in front of her. Her arms wrap around my chest and she rests her cheek against my back.
I start the engine and take her to the clubhouse. Twenty minutes later, we flop from the bike. We enter the bar as the day is about to dawn. Cael greets us with a sigh of relief.
“Dad,” Ravna says. “I’m so sorry.”
“Go to your bedroom,” Cael says. “And say ‘sorry’ to your mom. She was worried sick and couldn’t sleep the whole night.”
Ravna pulls forward and soon, I can hear her shuffling up the stairs. Cael and I sit at the bar.
Coyote: Salvation Ghosts MC (Defiant Love Saga Book 2) Page 8
